Czech Republic to stop buying Russian nuclear fuel from 2024

Prague (dpa) - The Czech Republic will discontinue orders of Russian-made fuel elements for its nuclear power plants as of next year.

The US company Westinghouse will in future supply the Dukovany nuclear power plant in southern Moravia with fuel from Sweden, the operator group CEZ said on Wednesday.

CEZ CEO Daniel Benes spoke in a statement of a "significant strengthening of the country's energy security."

Located about 100 kilometres north of Vienna, the Dukovany nuclear power plant has been in operation for more than 35 years. Its four VVER-440/213 Soviet-era reactors in the past ran exclusively on fuel from Russian supplier TVEL. The remaining stocks will now be used up, the company said.

In a perceived reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was announced a year ago that the Temelin nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia would also switch to fuel elements from Westinghouse and the French company Framatome.

The centre-right government in Prague aims to increase the share of nuclear power in electricity production from the current level of around 40% to more than half by 2040.

# Notebook

## Internet links - [CEZ statement, in Czech](http://dpaq.de/HRaDl)